


Sparkling Paper

by This_is_not_my_Penname



Series: Advent Ficlets 2018 [9]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Advent Ficlet Challenge 2018, F/M, Presents, learning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 10:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16931541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_is_not_my_Penname/pseuds/This_is_not_my_Penname
Summary: For the Advent Ficlet Challenge Day 9: GiftRiza learns from her mother and shares that knowledge.





	Sparkling Paper

Riza watched her mother smooth the shiny paper over the plain brown box. She smoothed it with a few gentle touches, and then affixed a few pieces of tape to hold it together. Then she took the long ribbon and curled it using the scissors. 

“Can I do it too, mama?” Riza asked hesitantly. She liked to watch her mother wrap the presents and she wanted to be able to do it too.

“Of course, Riza. Come here, sit by me.” Her mother patted the chair next to her. Riza climbed up, resting her hands on the wooden table in front of her. Her mother smiled, setting a cardboard box in the center of the table.

“What’s first?”

“We cut the paper so it will cover the whole box. See?” Her mother rolled out the paper, cutting it cleanly with the scissors. Riza watched intently, her eyes glued to her mother’s hands. “Then you put the box in the middle, and you fold the paper just so.” She moved the paper into a lovely fold. “Do you want to try, Riza?”

“Yes, mama!” She watched as her mother unfolded the paper. Riza pulled her lip between her teeth as she tried to replicate the clean folds her mother had made. It took a moment or two, and her folds certainly weren’t quite as neat, but Riza grinned when her mother clapped.

“That’s wonderful for a first time, Riza! Here. Let’s try it again.” She unfolded the paper and waited for Riza to try again. This time, the folding went much easier, and it was far neater.

“Look mama! I did it! I did it!”

“You certainly did, dearheart. Do you want to tape this one now?” Riza nodded, and her mother handed her the pieces of tape. She pressed it down onto the paper, grinning.

“It’s so pretty,” Riza cooed softly. “Is this for father?”

“Yes, it is. Don’t tell him, alright?”

Riza nodded. “Can you do the ribbons again, mama?”

Her mother laughed. “Of course, darling. I’ve got it.” She picked up the scissors again, and Riza’s eyes were glued to her mother’s hands, watching the scissor’s edge curl the ribbon. She was going to be just as good as her mother one day. She just knew it.

***

Riza no longer bothered wrapping presents for her father. He didn’t care for the shiny papers she had been enamored with as a child. He didn’t care for the precise folds she made on the paper. He didn’t care for the carefully curled ribbons. She sighed a bit.

She’d tried harder this year for his present. She’d gone to all the booksellers in town, looking for older Alchemy books, hoping to find one he didn’t own. Finally, she’d found a new translation of the Research of Tycho Brahe, one of her father’s favorite alchemists. She just knew he’d love it.

She wrapped it in plain brown paper, tying it with a piece of simple twine. She carefully set it on the mantle next to their Christmas stockings, the only tradition her father seemed to still care about. She was surprised to find a little box already sitting there. It was rare that her father got her presents, rarer still that he bothered to wrap them.

She smiled softly, but didn’t say anything. It was better not to make a fuss, or he wouldn’t bother doing it again. She’d take the little victories where she could.

***

Roy groaned in frustration from the kitchen.

“Is everything alright, darling?” Riza called softly, stepping toward the doorway. She had their daughter cradled in her arms.

“I’m just struggling to wrap this stupid present. How do people make them look so neat?!”

Riza giggled, stepping in. “Do you want some help? I can go set Ellie down…”

“No! I can do it myself…” He frowned. “But… maybe you can help with the ribbons?”

“Roy, I know how to wrap presents. My mother taught me well.”

He sighed, but nodded. Riza went to set her sleeping daughter down in the crib before she came to sit by him. “Here. It’s like this.” She slowly pulled the paper down toward her side of the table. “You have to fold them gently, but make sure the folds are crisp.”

“But my folds  _ were _ crisp!”

“Roy… You folded this paper four times. Look, you can see the creases.”

“O-okay so maybe I tried a couple times…”

Riza smiled. “I can help you. It’s just a little bit of work, okay?”

“Fine. I’ll… Let you show me on this one, and then I’ll do the rest. Deal?”

“Deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments below!


End file.
